Notes of a Dirty Old Man

<p><b>A compilation of Charles Bukowski's underground articles from his column Notes of a Dirty Old Man appears here in book form. Bukowski's reasoning for self-describing himself as a 'dirty old man' rings true in this book.</b></p><p>People come to my door--too many of them really--and knock to tell me <i>Notes of a Dirty Old Man</i> turns them on. A bum off the road brings in a gypsy and his wife and we talk . . . . drink half the night. A long distance operator from Newburgh N.Y. sends me money. She wants me to give up drinking beer and to eat well. I hear from a madman who calls himself 'King Arthur' and lives on Vine Street in Hollywood and wants to help me write my column. A doctor comes to my door: 'I read your column and think I can help you. I used to be a psychiatrist.' I send him away . . .</p><p>Bukowski writes like a latter-day Celine a wise fool talking straight from the gut about the futility and beauty of life . . . <b>--<i>Publishers Weekly</i></b></p><p>These disjointed stories gives us a glimpse into the brilliant and highly disturbed mind of a man who will drink anything hump anything and say anything without the slightest tinge of embarassment shame or remorse. It's actually pretty hard not to like the guy after reading a few of these semi-ranting short stories. --<b>Greg Davidson curiculummag.com</b></p><p>Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach Germany on August 16 1920 the only child of an American soldier and a German mother. Bukowski published his first story when he was twenty-four and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. His first book of poetry was published in 1959; he went on to publish more than forty-five books of poetry and prose including <i>Pulp</i> (Black Sparrow 1994) <i>Screams from the Balcony: Selected Letters 1960-1970</i> (1993) and <i>The Last Night of the Earth Poems</i> (1992). Other Bukowski books published by City Lights Publishers include <i>More Notes of a Dirty Old Man</i> <i>The Most Beautiful Woman in Town</i> <i>Tales of Ordinary Madness</i> <i>Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook</i> and <i>Absence of the Hero. </i>He died of leukemia in San Pedro on March 9 1994.</p>